Saturday, 24 May 2014

One Day In May

Saturday 17th May

FA Cup Final

Arsenal 3 Hull
City 2

The sight of more than 25,000 Hull fans,
turning huge swathes of Wembley into a rippling blanket of amber and black,
sent out a powerful message to any potential signings tuning in. The pictures of Bruce urging his players on,
of Hull rattling Arsenal for so long, created an enticing advertisement for the
club. “I hope so,” said Bruce. “That’s always the challenge. We landed two or three really big ones last
summer, Huddlestone and Jake Livermore, and we’ve got to try and secure Jake,
if we can. We’re spending a lot on the
academy and its job is to produce some young players. But that’s for the future. I’ll probably get the sack when it’s all in
place!” Henry
Winter (The Daily Telegraph)

What a
day!

Setting
the alarm for 5.45am but actually waking up just after 5 o’clock...

Helping
Mrs Slush get an excitable younger daughter ready for her own big day – the
Brownies 100th Birthday Bash at Wetherby Racecourse - while trying to keep a tab
on ‘Social Media’ goings on...

At
7.30am we’re off – the best trip we’ve ever been on – picking up at Patrington
and Hedon – passing 'early start' Rovers fans with flags also out en route to
‘Magic Weekend’ – through Hull and out on to the M62 among countless other vehicles
turning the carriageway into “a sea of black and amber”...

9am-ish - First
mishap! Too busy talking and reminiscing about midweek trips to
Carlisle means we miss the A1 turn-off...

Turn off
the M1 near Worksop and soon back on track...

10.15am:
second mishap! Miss Grantham Services due it not being sign-posted on the
approach to the Grantham turn-off (honest!); arrange to pull-up at the “next
available lay-by” and meet up with the Campbell Clan

10.20am
- stood supping San Miguel in a lay-by, while acknowledging the honks and
cheers of the passing Tiger Nation...

12.15pm
– parked up at Rickmansworth

12.20pm
– encamped in The Pennsylvanian (Wetherspoons); few pints of Ruddles County £1.99;
pub well populated with City...and the odd Arse...

1.30pm –
the Campbells depart for the station; we decamp to The Feathers beer garden;
decent pint of Castle Rock Pale Ale; sun, smiles and best wishes from the locals, none of whom it
seems want Arsene to end his recent trophy drought!

2.30pm –
On the ‘over-ground’ from Rickmansworh to Wembley Park, joining in with the singing of a dozen or
so east Hull lads in the next carriage; ‘We’re All Going On A European Tour’,
‘Silverware We Don’t Care’ interspersed with ‘When the Red, Red Robin...’

3.10pm –
Wembley Park: what a sight!

3.20pm – after an aborted attempt to get in The Premier Inn, decide to sample the sights and sounds of Wembley (sorry, Olympic) Way – great to see City fans have tagged it; wander past Hull CC’s impressive ‘City of Culture’ display..

3.35pm –
amazing how many “old school” faces you can bump into on a ten-minute stroll;
accosted by a worse-for-wear City fan who tells one of our party: “The only way
to win today is to hit the Southern b@stards early, get into ‘em, they won’t
like it...” – er, 'Stereotype Alert’ and ironically, the bloke in question had a
southern accent ;-)

3.45pm –
On Wembley concourse supping a pint of p!ss in a plastic glass, the privilege
for which I paid a fiver; ah well, I’d been spoilt up to now...

4.15pm –
Take our seats in Block 120. What. A. Sight.

4.30pm –
Steve Jordan whips up a storm, helped by plastic rattles, free flags and Elvis’
“Wise Men Say” booming from the speakers...

4.45pm –
Leon Lewis leads “Abide With Me”. I’m a
blubbering wreck. I knew I would be.
Love you Mum!

4.50pm –
Here they come; F#ck me, Hull City’s players are coming out on the pitch in an
FA Cup Final; the hairs literally ARE standing up on the back of my neck; “God
Save The Queen”

5pm –
We’re off...

5.03pm – Chester. Ecstasy...

5.09pm – Davies. Oh. My. God!

5.16pm – Cazorla. Reality check.

5.48pm –
Job half done

Hull’s players, especially Curtis Davies,
were magnificent, until tiring. Bruce
demonstrated he is a significant managerial force. Arsenal were in a battle. Henry
Winter (The Daily Telegraph)

6.17pm - Respect to the Valley Parade 56

6.30pm – Koscielny. B@stard!

6.54pm – ninety up. Can we really can take anymore of this?...

7.21pm – Ramsey. Didn’t we just know it?

7.30pm –
A-l-u-u-u-k-o...aaaargh

7.33pm –
Dream over...

For the
next few minutes I stood numb. I wasn’t
going to cry, even as Jake Livermore approached the City end looking totally
and utterly lost. Then that overwhelming
sense of pride, as the rest of the players came over and moments later as they trudged
wearily up the steps to receive their runner-up medals. Losers?
Never. Then the Arsenal players
went up to receive the main prize. I
applauded. Not sure they’d have done the
same had the positions been reversed.
Let’s get out of here...

7.55pm –
back along Wembley Way; songs of defiance fill the air...

8.05pm –
Still waiting for our train inside Wembley Park...

8.50pm –
back at Rickmansworth...

9.05pm –
On the way home...

11-midnight-ish - Ferking roadworks (M1)

1.55am –
Journey’s End

The
following day I posted something of a rant on a popular Social Media site
trying to express the sheer PRIDE I’d felt the day before. Looking at it now, it still holds true and as
such I’ve repeated it here...

The
morning after the evening before and having watched much of the day/game back
on the box, my overriding feeling remains one of immense pride at my local team
- something that those of you born and bred in these parts who purport to
follow the so-called "big" clubs will never truly appreciate. From
the "comfort" lay-by stops on the A1 with honks and cheers from
fellow City fans to the best wishes of the locals in Rickmansworth and the
camaraderie of meeting friends old and new from Hull and East Yorkshire to the
full Wembley experience - crying through Abide With Me (as I knew I would),
THAT start (!), the Arsenal fightback which has to be admired, the sheer
bloody-mindedness of City to the end and the reception at the close for our
heroes (which included staying to see Arsenal lift the cup - would they have
done the same? Hmm). You can preach all you like about lifelong
"support" for your Liverpools, Man Utds, Arsenals - you simply cannot
relate to a club in the same way that you connect with that which is LOCAL to
you. One decent piece of ITV's coverage yesterday was that with Mark Herman,
Garreth Roberts etc showing where Hull City (not Tigers) have come from and
what they've been through - you would-be Scousers, Mancs, Gooners from
Holderness can never appreciate the experience I felt yesterday of watching MY
team representing MY part of the country when taking part in what is still one
of the finest showpiece occasions in World Sport. You go on about
"plastic" HullCity fans - I don't care
whether they've supported City for 5 mins, 5 years or 5 decades - those there
yesterday were there to back their local team. And we came so close to really putting the place on the global footballing map. Now to Europe and beyond. Rant over. "Hull, Hell & Happiness".

As
expected much of the national media coverage last Saturday focused on Arsene
and his nine-year wait for a trophy.
This was evident in the match reports of esteemed writers such as
Patrick Collins of the Daily Mail (“yellow and black” FFS!).

But
there were some who were willing to give City more than a passing nod. Henry Winter in the Daily Telegraph and JacobSteinberg in The Guardian.

Locally
the Hull Daily Mail’s coverage was extensive as was to be expected. Their man Phil Buckingham captured the mood
perfectly with his blog post for ESPN.

But perhaps the piece that resonated most with those of black and amber persuasion was this from Cole Moreton in The Daily Telegraph.Simply brilliant.

In conclusion I must concede that to some reading this my actual attendance at the FA Cup Final will sit uneasily. My days of regular City attendance were curtailed in the early 1990s when I opted to return to the grassroots game. That said, I’ve still got to Boothferry Park, the KC and the odd away trip when I can and have never lost my desire to see my local team arrive on the big stage. Being there on Saturday made all those days spent watching poor City sides being systematically taken apart in front of the eyes of me and a few other hardy like-minded souls all the sweeter. Next stop the Europa League...

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This Blog provides...

An opportunity to indulge myself. Local football, real ale, a bit of rugby league & a touch of retro music, these are just a few of my favourite things.It began life as mainly about The Eastenders of Easington and their foray into the Central Midlands Football League.But it soon learnt to digress - leaving plenty of other bits of complete and utter tosh for you to enjoy, abhor or simply ignore!

Sixty Years of The Eastenders 1947-2007

An East Ender

To Holderness people, an 'East Ender' is known as a person living in the area of land skirted by the River Humber on the one side, the sea on the other, and landwise, bounded by, roughly, Dimlington, Holmpton and Welwick, and in the middle is Easington.Easington is the place where you find the real Yorkshire philosophy and humour.The Holderness Gazette, Friday March 19, 1965

About Me

A born and bred 'East Ender' from the #HumberRiviera in God's Country.
Thanks to the wonders of North Sea Gas, I've also worked here for the past twenty-odd years.
I have a very tolerant wife and two beautiful daughters.
Outside my day job, football rules - from local grassroots at Easington United to the Premier League (& back) with the mighty Hull City.
Other sporting dalliances include the "world famous" Hull Kingston Rovers, Yorkshire Cricket and most of our national teams.
I'm involved in football administration at local level and also follow from afar an eclectic mix of teams including Millbrook (Cornwall), Hearts, Glentoran and Hannover 96.
I have a pride in my country (past & present) that sits uncomfortably in today's society, a thirst for real ale that is at odds with the current cafe-bar culture and a taste in music that can be described as "outdated". But being fashionable was never my strongest point!
Oh, and if you're wondering, "Slush" is a nickname that stretches back generations on my dad's side - probably originating from the usual mispronunciation of our surname!

Any of Easington United's four "showpiece" finals: ER County FA Intermediate Cup Final, May 1999; ER County League Junior Cup Final, May 2001; Grays Humber Premier League Cup Final, May 2004; ER County League President's Cup Final, May 2010 - all won!

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The views expressed in this blog are those of the author except where otherwise stated. They are not necessarily the views and opinions of Easington United AFC from which 'A Game In Four Quarters' is totally independent.